President Museveni commissions Mpondwe border export market

H.E The President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has commissioned a one-stop border post and the Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Border Export Zone Market in Kasese District.

The Shs5 billion facility which was funded by the World Bank through Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project is meant to enable cross-border trade by increasing the capacity for commerce and reducing the costs faced by traders, especially small-scale and women traders.

“The reason we had stopped markets was because of Corona but a few weeks ago, I made a national address and said we had opened the country and we are now emphasizing immunization. So, the border is now open, our emphasis is now on immunization,” President Museveni said

Museveni explained that the intention of closing markets was to stop crowding as part of the COVID-19 containment measures since the country didn’t have vaccines at the time. He, however, said that there are sufficient vaccines and people should be allowed to get back to their businesses as usual but be encouraged to get vaccinated.

The president asked Ugandans to consolidate family wealth and avoid splitting land. He said that through the use of shares, family members are able to jointly use the available wealth like land to produce much more outputs and share profits accordingly.

He also applauded the DRC president Félix Tshisekedi for allowing UPDF to enter the country to pursue the rebel Allied Democratic forces-ADF and reported that the Ugandan troops are making progress.

Photo by URN

Geraldine Ssali, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives (right in the picture above) said that Uganda targets to have 18 border export zones and so far, seven of them have been completed. She said the facilities will also have primary and secondary value-addition facilities to increase on product’s monetary value.

The commissioner general of Uganda Revenue Authority-URA, John Musinguzi said that more than 3,500 trucks are cleared into DRC every month and in the last three years the value of these quantities has jumped from Shillings 1 trillion to more than Shillings 1. 5 trillion. However, he noted that there are still challenges of smuggling through the porous border points.

Muhindo Perrie, the LC I chairperson of Kabwiri 1 cell in Mpondwe-Luhbiriha applauded the government for reopening the market, saying the local community entirely depends on the business. He noted that many people had gotten out of business due to the lack of trading space and customers.

Mpondwe One Stop Border Post becomes the eighth one stop border post after Malaba, Mutukula, Lwakhakha, Elegu, Katuna, Mirama Hills and Ntoroko also set only waiting to be commissioned. Two more are under construction, including Suam River one stop border post in Bukwo District on the border with Kenya. According to Kasese District officials, the Mpondwe border market is a game changer for the town council that has been struggling with local revenue collection

President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has re-opened the Mpondwe-Lhubiriha market in Mpondwe in Kasese district more than two years since it was closed following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Museveni also stopped COVID-19 testing at the border and encouraged the community members to get fully vaccinated to stop the re-occurrence of the disease.